GOLDEN, Colorado — Architectural and engineering teams have begun shaping the look and feel of New Mexico’s Spaceport America, taking the wraps off new images today that showcase the curb appeal of the sprawling main terminal and hangar at the futuristic facility.

Last month, a team of U.S. and British architects and designers had been recommended for award to design the primary terminal and hangar facility at Spaceport America – structures that symbolize the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport.

Selected from an international field of eleven firms, the winning design is the work of URS Corporation – a large design and engineering enterprise – teamed with Foster + Partners of the United Kingdom, a group with extensive experience in crafting airport buildings.

When the 100,000 square-foot (9,290 square-meter) facility is completed — the centerpiece of the world’s first, purpose-built, commercial spaceport — the structures will serve as the primary operating base for Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic suborbital spaceliner, and also as the headquarters for the New Mexico Spaceport Authority.

The terminal and hangar facility will also provide room for aircraft and spacecraft, and Virgin Galactic’s operations facilities, including pre-flight and post-flight facilities, administrative offices, and lounges. The spacious maintenance hangar can hold two White Knight Two carrier aircraft and five SpaceShipTwo spaceliners – vessels now under construction at Scaled Composites in Mojave, California.

Read the full article By Leonard David, Special Correspondent for SPACE.com.